Pity
by XNemesis
Summary: Námo Mandos ponders Lúthien and her actions during the Lay of Leithian. What made him show her pity and mercy when he had shown no other it? Was she truly more worthy than everyone else? Rating for mentions of death and doom. Feedback appreciated and en


Disclaimer: I don't own the Silmarillion or anything pertaining to it. No infringement is intended.

Author Notes: This is going to be a story written from the POV of Námo Mandos on the subject of Lúthien. This is his thoughts on her achievements and actions in Arda and the reason that he was moved to pity for the first and last time of his eternal life. Keep in mind that these thoughts are from a view of a being in Valinor. He isn't tied to Arda and its pains so it will be different than a person who is actually in Arda. It won't all be positive, as an opinion from Arda would be. In Arda, this was seen as one of the greatest feats in history but in Valinor, one could look beyond the goodness it caused to see the darkness.

**Pity**

               Music is and always has been something I can appreciate and love. Music is what I was created for. I have heard and took my own small part in the Great Music that created the world. Perhaps it is why we love the elves so. Their songs are not as ours, much simpler and more innocent. They can sing a lament over the Kinslaying at Alqualondë or the Darkening of Valinor yet they still sound as innocent as a _lómelindi_, at least to my ears. They have not seen the marring of Arda or the terror of Morgoth at his greatest, when his strength was uncontested and not even his own brother could stand against him. They have seen him after he had sunk to the lowest of the low, after he had squandered the power given to him by Eru in darkness and evil.

               Now, I hear a song as fair as one can imagine. No other shall ever equal it whether they are Ainu, Quendi, or Atani. It is an odd harmony between the voice of an Ainu and a Quendi. Her song is a tail of sorrow and joy mixed together. There is death and pain but there is also joy and love. A great many of Arda's tales involve such but this one strikes me as different for a reason I cannot fathom. This desperate plea for mercy strikes me as different from the many thousands of others that I have heard. I fail to see how her story is different from the Teleri of Alqualondë yet it is.

               A long foreign emotion fills my _fëa. _I have never been one to pity the plights of others. That has been my sister's job for many ages. I am the judge of the dead and cannot afford pity. I could easily have shown Fëanaró pity for his actions were poisoned by Morgoth's words, obsession, and hatred so strong he could not begin to fathom it. Never have I shown any pity to those who I judge, yet now I listen to this song and wonder why.

               This is what caused the death of many elves needlessly. This maiden who unwittingly fell in love with a human has set the stage for the worst of the Kinslayings, for the needless death of her father, for the fall of the most noble of the Quendi to the equivalent of _yrch_, and for sorrow greater than any known to Arda. Why should I show her mercy and pity? Why should I care for her plight? It is selfish of her to think that her situation is direr than any others. There are many who have suffered equally and more yet they received no special treatment.

               I am cut off from Arda and its pains so this is a wonder to me. I have never been one to fight. Even when we fought against Morgoth and the might of Utumno, I stayed out of it. Cowardly some may call me but I prefer to stay out of the battles where blood is spilled and beings meant to live are doomed to die. I stay in my halls for the most part or I go to Lórien or my sister's halls.

               Eru has imparted knowledge to me of all events to come save what he wishes to keep to himself. There are many outcomes to what will happen and right now I can affect them with a single word. I can show her no more mercy than I've shown any other and leave Arda without any hope or I can show her pity for the first and likely the last time in my life and give Arda the gift of hope, for that is what her line shall be. From her will come the greatest king of man and the greatest of the elven lords(1).

               Here is my decision for all to hear: I will give this maiden a choice. She may leave Mandos into Valinor and live her life for eternity or she may return to Arda with her lover as a mortal woman doomed to die. Her choice will affect the future of Arda in ways beyond her comprehension. I know what she will choose. It shows in her eyes that she would never forsake her mortal lover, even for paradise and deathless beauty. My halls are all she shall ever see of the Undying Lands of her mother's kin. She makes her choice and the fate of Arda is set. I pronounce her doom and she leaves my halls to never return.

               Even now I wonder if I did the right thing. I have just shown mercy to the ones who have started the greatest ring of destruction and death among the elves. This maiden and her lover have done the same as Fëanaró, they started something that will have an end they could not possibly understand. Perhaps, when they see what they have caused, they will regret it. I do not pretend to know where the Secondborn go when they die but I have my suspicions. I believe that they return to the Timeless Halls of Eru Ilúvatar and see all that happens on Arda as we once did so many ages ago.

               As of now, the events of the Lay of Leithian have set the fate of Arda Marred anew. The Star of Hope shall soon grace the skies bearing the Silmaril Beren and Lúthien won and Morgoth will return to the Void. The Oath of Fëanaró will be fulfilled and the last two Silmarils will take their place in the depths of the oceans and the fires of the earth.

               The child of Melian and Thingol has made her choice. Blood will be shed and tears will be wept over her decisions. She has managed to cause more damage than good I think. Now she and her descendents must clean up the mess she caused. My sister's tears for the events set in motion by this elf's choice will flow endlessly and ceaselessly. I have many a reason to despise this child yet I cannot. The events started by her will bring about the end of the terror of Morgoth's reign over Arda and for that I shall be grateful.

END

(1) Elrond and Elros if you haven't figured it out.


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